


Take My Hand and Show Me the World (and By That I Mean Montreal)

by literaryoblivion



Series: Freck's Inktober [12]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bed & Breakfast, Boats and Ships, Canada, Fluff, Holding Hands, Lighthouses, M/M, Rain, Sharing a Bed, Tour Guide Jack Zimmerman, Tourism, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 08:38:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16281248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryoblivion/pseuds/literaryoblivion
Summary: Bitty books a tour of Canada and an extension in Montreal. He blames Ransom. Why? Because his local Montreal tour guide is incredibly attractive and Bitty's already gone on him.





	Take My Hand and Show Me the World (and By That I Mean Montreal)

Don’t ask Bitty why he ended up booking a trip to Canada, and not just a trip but a [9 day guided tour](https://www.goaheadtours.com/oaq/ontario-quebec-toronto-to-montreal#itinerary) that goes from Toronto to Montreal. And he even paid extra for  _ more _ days in Montreal! Because he’s a crazy person.

Maybe it’s because his roommate Ransom talks about Canada so dang much and about how it’s so cool and Bitty would love it. Perhaps it’s because Ransom has mentioned on several occasions that there’s some pretty hot guys in Canada and some of them speak French, which is you know, hot. Maybe it’s because he’s not opposed to hot Canadian men who may or may not speak French, and maybe going to Canada is about as close as he’ll get to going to a foreign country where most people speak his language and he doesn’t have to spend an overnight flight going over an entire ocean.

So Canada it is, and Montreal because French speaking hot dudes. Ransom is an awful influence.

Although… maybe not. He’s on his Montreal leg of the trip and the group has been passed on to a local to Montreal tour guide; he’s tall and handsome, with big blue doe-eyes and a shy smile. He introduces himself as Jack, and yes, he also speaks French (!). He’s quiet and nothing like their previous outgoing and flamboyant tour guide (who Bitty was convinced he did the guide gig on the side while he did acting auditions), but he clearly knows his stuff about the city and the sites.

It’s a small group, only about 15 of them, and Bitty thinks that if it were any bigger, Jack probably would’ve gotten quieter, maybe even had them listen to recordings rather than him. As it is, Bitty can tell he’s trying very hard, and it’s pretty cute.

He doesn’t mean to, but he tends to stick pretty close to Jack on the tour and at group breakfast. When they get the afternoon free to do whatever they like (most of the group going shopping for souvenirs), he ends up talking with Jack (who is much more friendly and talkative one on one) and asking him what he should do. 

It always leads to Jack taking Bitty on a private tour of his own favorite sites of his city, the ones he doesn’t share with the rest of the group. It makes Bitty feel special, and he doesn’t miss the smiles and barely there touches of Jack’s fingers on his arm or back as he gets Bitty’s attention or turn him to point something out before he gives him some history or trivia. They spent so long together those couple days that Bitty’s finally broken Jack of calling him Mr. Bittle and just calling him Bittle (though he can’t seem to bring himself to call him Bitty just yet). 

It’s amazing and Bitty is falling hard, which is so not good because Jack is just doing his job and he does not need some American tourist with a Southern accent drooling over him.

Bitty tries to reign in his heart eyes, but he’s not sure he does a good job.

Montreal is the last stop on the main tour, and when it’s their last day, they have a big group dinner. Bitty knows he has a few more days in Montreal because he extended, but he’s made friends with the others in the group and he even exchanges numbers with a few and Facebook requests, so they can keep up with each other.

Towards the end of dinner, while Bitty is at the dessert table judging the lemon tarts hard core because there’s no way that crust was handmade and does he really want to waste calories on mediocre crust, Jack approaches him.

“Hi, Bittle,” Jack says with a soft smile.

“Hi, Jack!” Bitty says, maybe a little too enthusiastically.

“I… the director told me you paid for a Montreal extension?”

Bitty nods. “Yes, sir, I did. One free day in Montreal is just not enough, don’t you think?” He grins and Jack smiles and bobs his head slightly.

“Well, it turns out you’re the only one from the group who is extending? The other days are free for you to do what you’d like, but I am available if you want to do any excursions or need suggestions.”

“Oh, just me? Well I don’t want to keep you for just me, especially since I’m sure you’d rather be doing something else than carting little ole me around,” Bitty says with a laugh.

“I wouldn’t mind actually. I’m here either way, for work, and I--” Bitty can see Jack’s cheeks flush slightly, “have some places you might like that I could take you to see? It’d be my pleasure.”

Lord, he’s adorable. “I would love to see these places, Jack. I trust you.”

Jack smiles at that and says, “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning; bring a coat.”

Bitty lifts a skeptical eyebrow. “How bright and early are we talking, honey? I am on vacation, you know.”

With a small chuckle, Jack replies, “I know how much you love mornings, Bittle. But I promise it’s worth it. Meet me here at six. I’ll have coffee.”

Bitty groans dramatically even though he doesn’t mean it. “Only for you, Jack.” He realizes too late how that might sound, and sure enough Jack’s ears are pink.

“See you in the morning, Bittle.” He turns away and goes back to talk to the rest of the group, saying goodbye to the ones that are already heading back to the hotel.

~

Turns out Jack has the whole day planned and Bitty’s just along for the ride and picture opportunities. He doesn’t mind in the slightest.

Jack takes him out to [Mount Royal Park](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g155032-d155373-Reviews-Mount_Royal_Park-Montreal_Quebec.html) to see the sunrise over the Montreal skyline, and it’s absolutely breathtaking. They walk around Beaver Lake, letting joggers pass them by as they talk. And this time the conversation is more personal information and less information about the park. He learns more about Jack, that he used to play hockey, almost went pro but had a bad experience that turned him off on it. He went to school in the states and studied history and decided to take his degree back home and use it, which is why he’s a tour guide.

Every little piece Bitty learns about Jack endears him more to him, and he’s pleased that Jack is willing to share these facts with him.

They grab sandwiches to go, and Jack reveals that the rest of the day they will be taking a boat up the river to hopefully catch some beluga whale sightings.

And seeing whales they do. Not to mention the beautiful line of the coast they pass on the boat. It’s all so amazing, and Jack feeds Bitty tidbits of knowledge about the coastal cities they pass, the islands they float by.

They end up on one of the islands, there’s a [bird sanctuary](https://duvetnor.com/en/wildlife-to-discover/a-bird-sanctuary/) that has thousands of seabirds all roaming free. Bitty can’t take enough pictures, quite frankly, and Jack even takes a few for him so Bitty’s pictures aren’t just a bunch of birds. Bitty even gets Jack to take a few selfies with him, and he knows he’s going to cherish those pictures forever.

As it gets later in the day though, the clouds grow dark and ominous, and Jack ushers Bitty back to the dock for their ride back. Unfortunately, they don’t make it there in time before the clouds split open to pour buckets of water on them.

“Come on,” Jack shouts, grabbing Bitty’s hand. “There’s a lighthouse a little further,” Jack points at a distant spot where Bitty can make out something resembling a shelter, “that we can stay in until it blows over.”

He doesn’t wait for Bitty to respond, just running along the bridge, Bitty trying to keep up with his much shorter legs compared to Jack’s. It’s not a great situation, but he is holding Jack’s hand, so he’ll take his positives where he can.

When they finally make it to the shelter of the [lighthouse](http://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1592), they find the captain of their boat, also standing out of the storm talking to a couple, presumably the ones who manage the lighthouse. Jack makes a gesture for Bitty to wait as he leaves to talk with them. He comes back to Bitty after a few minutes with a frown on his face.

“The storm’s pretty bad, and it looks like it’s going to last through the night. We’re not going anywhere until morning, it looks like.”

“Oh no!” Bitty says, worrying about how they’ll sleep, what the state of the boat will be in in the morning.

“But, fortunately, this lighthouse is also a bed and breakfast, and the owners said their original guests had to cancel because of the storm, so they have a few rooms available and are letting us and the captain stay with them for the night.”

“Oh really? Well that’s so kind of them! I’d be happy to pay--” Bitty stops when Jack holds up a hand.

“I already took care of it. It was my fault that I brought us out here and didn’t think to check the time or the weather.”

“Oh, Jack. It’s not your fault in the least, sweetie, but thank you for doing that.” Jack nods and then rubs the back of his neck like he’s nervous about something. “Is there something else?” Bitty asks. “No food but a granola bar?” Bitty jokes.

It makes Jack laugh and he seems to lose some of the tension in his shoulders. “No, they have food for dinner, the ones that were for the couples that were going to stay, so they have plenty. No, it’s just that… well they only have two rooms available, and there’s three of us? So, umm,” Jack takes a breath, “two of us will have to share as only one of them has a big enough bed? I’d be happy to share with the captain if that makes you more comfortable to have the other room to yourself.”

Bitty furrows and looks back at the captain, who’s still talking to the owners. He didn’t say much on the boat and is probably nice, but he’s a rather large, burly man with full grown beard, and while Bitty doesn’t know for sure, he seems like the type to snore loudly.

“I don’t mind sharing,” Bitty starts, and Jack shakes his head.

“No, you don’t have to do that, you’re the guest and you paid for this--” Bitty stops Jack with a hand over his mouth.

“I don’t mind sharing with  _ you _ is what I was going to say.”

Jack’s eyes widen and his whole face reddens. “Oh,” he says, “um, oh okay. That’s… um, okay. That’s good, great. I… that works.”

Bitty’s worried he might have broken Jack. “Unless, you’d rather,” Bitty says gesturing to the captain.

“Oh no, no. I… I’d rather share with you,” he says quietly.

Bitty grins. “Well then, okay.”

“Okay.”

They’re both staring at each other smiling, soaking wet clothes and hair dripping on the floor.

Breaking this moment between them, Jack grabs Bitty’s hand. “Come on, they set out some towels upstairs,” Jack says, leading Bitty to the spiral staircase.

And Bitty follows, excited for the possibilities of the night and a little grateful Ransom had talked his ear off so much about Canada.

**Author's Note:**

> So I did a lot of hand waving in regards to timing and distance between the locations, so forgive me (I don't know how long it would actually take to go up the river to the island but I suspect it might be longer than I suggest). I did way more research on this fic than I have for any of these fictober fics thus far and I needed to reign myself in somehow. Sorry. But hey, links to the cool places are in the fic if you didn't notice it! :)
> 
> Come say hi on [my tumblr](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com) or [my twitter](http://twitter.com/lit_oblivion).


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